IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i6p4781-d1091460.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Juggling during Lockdown: Balancing Telework and Family Life in Pandemic Times and Its Perceived Consequences for the Health and Wellbeing of Working Women

Author

Listed:
  • Mariana Loezar-Hernández

    (Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
    Consolidated Research Group Society, Health, Education and Culture (GESEC), University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
    Research Group of Health Care (GRECS), Biomedical Research Institute (IRB), 25003 Lleida, Spain)

  • Erica Briones-Vozmediano

    (Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
    Consolidated Research Group Society, Health, Education and Culture (GESEC), University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
    Research Group of Health Care (GRECS), Biomedical Research Institute (IRB), 25003 Lleida, Spain)

  • Elena Ronda-Pérez

    (Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine, Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
    Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP-ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Laura Otero-García

    (Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP-ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
    Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work-family balance due to lockdown measures. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of working mothers in Spain and the consequences of trying to balance work and family for their health and wellbeing. We conducted a qualitative study based on 18 semi-structured interviews with mothers of children under 10. Five themes were identified: (1) Telework—characteristics and challenges of a new labor scenario; (2) Survival and chaos—inability to work, look after children, and manage a household at the same time; (3) Is co-responsibility a matter of luck?—challenges when sharing housework during lockdown; (4) Breakdown of the care and social support system; and (5) decline in health of women trying to balance work and family life. Mothers who had to balance telework against family life suffered physical, mental, and social effects, such as anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation, and relationship problems. This study suggests that, in situations of crisis, gender inequality increases in the household, and women tend to shift back to traditional gendered roles. Governments and employers should be made aware of this, and public policies should be implemented to facilitate work-family reconciliation and co-responsibility within couples

Suggested Citation

  • Mariana Loezar-Hernández & Erica Briones-Vozmediano & Elena Ronda-Pérez & Laura Otero-García, 2023. "Juggling during Lockdown: Balancing Telework and Family Life in Pandemic Times and Its Perceived Consequences for the Health and Wellbeing of Working Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4781-:d:1091460
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4781/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4781/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Judith Derndorfer & Franziska Disslbacher & Vanessa Lechinger & Katharina Mader & Eva Six, 2021. "Home, sweet home? The impact of working from home on the division of unpaid work during the COVID-19 lockdown," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-26, November.
    2. Sevgi Çoban, 2022. "Gender and telework: Work and family experiences of teleworking professional, middle‐class, married women with children during the Covid‐19 pandemic in Turkey," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 241-255, January.
    3. Sophie Hennekam & Yuliya Shymko, 2020. "Coping with the COVID‐19 crisis: force majeure and gender performativity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 788-803, September.
    4. Lee, Shawna J. & Ward, Kaitlin P. & Chang, Olivia D. & Downing, Kasey M., 2021. "Parenting activities and the transition to home-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    5. Iduzki Soubelet-Fagoaga & Maitane Arnoso-Martínez & Itziar Guerendiain-Gabás & Edurne Martínez-Moreno & Garbiñe Ortiz, 2021. "(Tele)Work and Care during Lockdown: Labour and Socio-Familial Restructuring in Times of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-19, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin Miranda Tabak & Matheus B. Froner & Rafael Corrêa & Thiago C. Silva, 2023. "The Intersection of Health Literacy and Public Health: A Machine Learning-Enhanced Bibliometric Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-18, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katri Otonkorpi‐Lehtoranta & Milla Salin & Mia Hakovirta & Anniina Kaittila, 2022. "Gendering boundary work: Experiences of work–family practices among Finnish working parents during COVID‐19 lockdown," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 1952-1968, November.
    2. Jan Vagedes & Karin Michael & Mohsen Sobh & Mohammad O. A. Islam & Silja Kuderer & Christian Jeske & Anne Kaman & David Martin & Katrin Vagedes & Michael Erhart & Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer & Tomáš Zdraži, 2023. "Lessons Learned—The Impact of the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on German Waldorf Parents’ Support Needs and Their Rating of Children’s Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Online S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Ward, Kaitlin P. & Lee, Shawna J., 2022. "Associations of food insecurity and material social support with parent and child mental health during COVID-19," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Antonietta Cosentino & Paola Paoloni, 2021. "Women’s Skills and Aptitudes as Drivers of Organizational Resilience: An Italian Case Study," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Sandra Figueiredo & Raquel João & Laura Alho & João Hipólito, 2022. "Psychological Research on Sleep Problems and Adjustment of Working Hours during Teleworking in the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Reece Garcia, 2022. "Exploring the domestic division of labor when both parents are involuntarily working from home: The effects of the UK COVID pandemic," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1065-1081, July.
    7. Freisthler, Bridget & Gruenewald, Paul J. & Tebben, Erin & Shockley McCarthy, Karla & Price Wolf, Jennifer, 2021. "Understanding at-the-moment stress for parents during COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    8. Anthony Barr & Darlene Booth-Bell & Kristen Broady & Ryan Perry, 2023. "The Covid-19 Pandemic Spurred Growth in Automation: What Does this Mean for Minority Workers?," Working Paper Series WP 2023-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    9. Boll, Christina & Müller, Dana & Schüller, Simone, 2023. "Neither backlash nor convergence: dynamics of intra-couple childcare division during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 57, pages 1-27.
    10. Yuchen Han, 2021. "The politics of kitchen work: Co‐production of a retired man's “hegemonic masculinity” during the COVID‐19 quarantine," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1876-1884, September.
    11. Fatemeh Hamedanian, 2022. "Access to the European Labor Market for Immigrant Women in the Wake of the COVID Pandemic," World, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-22, November.
    12. Li, Shifeng & Xu, Qiongying & Xie, Jing & Wang, Lei & Li, Huining & Ma, Li & Xia, Ruixue, 2022. "Associations of parenting daily hassles with parents’ mental health during the COVID-19 school closure," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    13. Jinho Kim & Sujeong Park & S. V. Subramanian & Taehoon Kim, 2023. "The Psychological Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Heterogeneous Effects in South Korea: Evidence from a Difference-in-Differences Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 455-476, February.
    14. Maria Victoria Uribe Bohorquez & Isabel María García Sánchez, 2023. "Sustainability in times of crisis: Female employment during COVID‐19," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 3124-3139, November.
    15. Gabrielle Oliveira & Corinne Kentor, 2023. "“It's part of me”: Brazilian immigrant teachers' work in a global pandemic," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 710-723, March.
    16. José Juan Carrión-Martínez & Cristina Pinel-Martínez & María Dolores Pérez-Esteban & Isabel María Román-Sánchez, 2021. "Family and School Relationship during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-18, November.
    17. Markus Stracke & Miriam Heinzl & Anne Dorothee Müller & Kristin Gilbert & Anne Amalie Elgaard Thorup & Jean Lillian Paul & Hanna Christiansen, 2023. "Mental Health Is a Family Affair—Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Associations between Mental Health Problems in Parents and Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Alicja Kozakiewicz & Zbigniew Izdebski & Maciej Białorudzki & Joanna Mazur, 2023. "Pandemic-Related Stress and Other Emotional Difficulties in a Sample of Men and Women Living in Romantic Relationships during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Constantin Aurelian Ionescu & Melinda Timea Fülöp & Dan Ioan Topor & Mircea Constantin Duică & Sorina Geanina Stanescu & Nicoleta Valentina Florea & Mariana Zamfir & Mihaela Denisa Coman, 2022. "Sustainability Analysis, Implications, and Effects of the Teleworking System in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    20. Wallace, Lacey N., 2023. "Parenting practices and adolescent delinquency: COVID-19 impact in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4781-:d:1091460. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.